Adjustable arch-supporter.



J. T.- APGAR.

ADJUSTABLE ARCH SUPPORTER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. ze, 1909.

Patented Jan. 19, 1999;

D 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. APGAR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE W. APGAR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

no. eoaae.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

Application tiled January 2B, 1908. Serial No. 412,960.

To all whom- -it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. APGAma citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, Manhattan borough, county and ltate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AdjustableI Arch-Supporters, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates to an adjustable arch-suppfnter, the object of my invention being to produce'an arch-supporter that 'can be adj usted to iit the various conditions eX- isting in the arch-portion of the human foot. In other words, my improved arch-supporterI is adapted for vertica adjustment and also for lateral adjustment.

My improved .arch-supporter is `constituted to obviate the necessity of riveting the parts together, the elements which constitute my improved arch-supporter being preferably formed by dies.

Other features of improvement will hereinafter appear.

To these and other ends which will hereinafter appear, my invention comprises novel features of arrangement and combination of parts which I 'will proceed 'to describe and finally claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, wherein I Figure 1 illustrates a side elevation of my improved arch-supporter; Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof; Fig. 3 is an enlarged crosssectional detail view, the section being taken on a line a-a in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an Venlarged fragmentary plan View of the pivotal connection existing between the bridgepiece of the supporter, and the adjusting plates: and Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail perspective view of the means herein employed to adjust and hold the bridge-piece.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the bridge-piece of my improved arch-supporter.4 Thesaid 'bridgepiece is adapted to support the under side of the human foot, that is to say, the region between the heel and the ball of the foot as at A, Fig. 1. It is a common fault in. the human foot, to have this portion, or bridge, out of shape or fallen, an.. it is the object of my invention to brace or support the said bridge region wh n said region nas fallen.

This fault is common with heavy. people, and is not uncommon with slender people. In order to render the said bridge-piece adjustable I preferably form it out of comparatively thin spring steel not necessarily tempered. The ends of said bridge-piece are turned inwardly, as at 2 and 3, and I shape the said ends into hooks 4 and 5, respectively. To adjust the said bridge-piece vertically, I have herein em loyed drawing plates 6 and 7, the plate 6 eing provided with a catch 8 formed integral therewith, and the plate 7 with a plurality of slots 9 formed in the end 10 adjacent to the catch ,8. The end opposite to the catch S of the plate 6, terminates in a hook -11 which is ada ed to engage the hook 5 on the end 2 of tie Ibridge-piece 1. The remote end of the plate 7 terminates in a hook 12 which is ada ted to engage the hook f1 on the end 3 of tie said bridge-piece 1, the object of the hooked connections at 2, 5, 3 and 4 being to provide a yieldable or pivotal connection in order that the plates 6 and 7 will not buckle when the bridge-piece l is pulled, at the ends thereof, toward each other.' To pu-ll the ends of the bridge-piece v1 toward each other it is but necessary to force the end 10 upward, whereby the catch 8 will leave its slot 9, and to draw the plates 6 and 7 toward each other and cause another slot to engage the catch 8. The bridge-piece will then be thrown upward, as shown by dotted lines 13 in Fig. 1. The curve of the bridgepiece 1 will be substantially parabolic and the action of drawing the ends of the bridgepiece 1 toward each other, or to allow them to spread, will be to increase, or to decrease, the abscissa of the curve, hence the bridgepiece 1 can be adjusted upwardly or down-` `wardly to meet the requirements existing `in a fallen arch.

The arch-supporter as illustrated in Fig. 1 is assumed to be set at about the right height for an ordinary fallen arch. When the weight of the body, in the action of. walking, is put upon the bridge-piece 1, the plates G and 7 act as tie-rods to resist the end thrust of the bridge-piece.

As the manner of supporting the bridge of' the human foot has been described, I will now refer to another feature of my improved arch-supporter. The term archsupporter implies a device for a double purpose, namely, a device to support the bridge of the" human foot and also the arch proper,

and for the purpose of supporting the arch' an extra upstanding flange is employed. The upstanding flange, which forms part of my invention, comprisesja flexible plate 141- having projecting tongues 15, the said tongues being adapted to tightly, but slidably fit into the sockets 16, which are pressed out of tl bridge-piece l, as shown. Projecting from the flexible plate 111 are 'a plurality of independent longitudinally movable resilient -teeth or sections 17, the said teeth 17 being preferably integral with the plate 14 and separated by spaces 18. By making the teeth or sections 17 independent members, and the point of connection,19 thereof with' the plate 14, comparatively narrow, the bending of thelbridge piece 1 will not be hampered, as it would be if the said upstanding flange was solid, for the. reason that the said sections will expand or spread apart fan-like, longitudinally of the bridge-piece, when said bridge-piece is being curved. The arch-supporting flange can be removed from the bridge-piece and another flangesubstituted if desired. The malformations of the bridge and arch of the.

foot are not always proportionate; hence it might be necessary to bow the bridge-piece 1 but slightly and yet to spread the upstandin flange', composed of the sections 17, consi erably. In the arch-supporters now in use the upstanding flange referred to is not adjustable, and therefore great pain to the wearer is sometimes occasioned. If it is desirable to adjust the upstading flange, of my improved arch-supporter, the said flange can be moved inwardly or outwardlybodily to meet requirements. On the opposite side of the bridge-piece 1, that is, opposite to the arch-supporting flange, I prefer to form a smaller bead 20, which is scarfed, or slotted as at 21, to prevent any resistance to the bending of the bridge-piece 1. The material of which my improved arch-supporter is made is comparatively thin, the thickness .herein illustrated being magnified. The

mounting of the plate 14 on the bridge-piece 1 in no way interferes with the bending of the said bridge-piece, as it is also preferably of light yieldable steel. The tongues 15 are preferably narrower than the sockets 16.

From the foregoing description it will be seen ythat my improved arch-supporter is adjustable both vertically and laterally.

The vindependent yieldable flange sections 17 permit the said flange to accommodate itself to the contour of the arch and yet oer enough resistance to forma supporting element." '4 Y. Y

AIt will of course be understood that my improvedv arch-supporter may, or may not,

be covered with a soft material. It will also be noted that my improved supporter as a whole performs the function of giving a springy or cushion action to the wearer, as

it is unsupported intermediate the ends thereof.

Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1..An arch-supporter, comprising a yieldable vertically adjustable bridge-piece, a-

-hook ateach end of said bridge-piece, means adapted to engage said hooks and draw the ends of said bridge-piece toward each other, and an arch-supporting element carried by said bridge-piece.

2. An arch-supporter, comprising a yieldable, vertically. adjustable bridge-piece, a. hook at each end ofsaid bridge-piece, adjustable drawing elements adapted to engage said hooks and draw Lthe ends of said bridgepiece together, means adapted to hold said drawing elements in an adjusted position,.,85

and an arch supporting element carried by said bridge-piece.

3. An arch supporter adapted for inse..

tion in a shoe comprising a resilient bridgepiece normally adapted to assume various curves, an adjustable drawing elemeA carried by said bridge-piece, said drawihl' eflement comprisin a non-yieldable element independent of tre shoe, and a laterally `ad justable. slidably mounted arch-supporting element carried by said'bridge-piece, said arch-supporting element comprising aresilient member having integraltherewith a. plurality of resilient tongues.

4. An arch-supporter comprising a bridge- J OHN T. APGAR.

Witnesses: i i

EDWARD A. JARvIs,

Animar SHLIVEK. 

